Food storage receptacle



` May 9, 1944 LA MR s. COOPER 2,348,524

FOOD STORAGE RECEPTACL Filed Nov. 8, 1941 Imvetorvzvv a Mar' S. Cooper;b9 7V@ M., 1 JM VI-NHS Attrheg.

Patented May 9, 1944 UNITED STATES 'PATENT oFEicE Foon sToaAGEaEcEr'rAcLE La Mar S.` Cooper, Erie, Pa., assigner to General ElectricCompany, a corporation of New York v Application November 8, 1941,Serial No. 418,295

2 claims'.

stale.

' It is an object of my invention to provide new .I

and improved means for maintaining such articles in a crisp and freshstate.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will become apparent as thefollowing'description proceeds, and the features of novelty whichcharacterize my invention will be pointed outl with particularity in theclaims annexed toand forming a part of this specification. l i

For a better understanding' of my invention reference may be had. to theaccompanying drawing in which Fig. 1 is a front elevational view,partlyV in section, of a portion of a refrigerator cabinet; AFig. 2 is avertical section of the food storage cabinet disclosed in Fig. 1, andFig. 3"

tively low humidity within the receptacle I!) and ven interior of thereceptacle at the `relatively high I temperature by the application ofas little heat as possible in order to maintain high 'economy ooperation. I have illustrated walls formed` from spaced- 'apart metalmembers 2liV and 2 I` with any suitable insulating material disposedtherebetween. It will be obvious that other forms of construction `maybe employedv and therefore the details ofthe wall-construction will notbe further elaborated.

The receptacle may be maintained in position by any desired means. Inthe illustrated form of my invention, the bottom wall of the receptacleus provided adjacent the front edge thereof with brackets/24 which maybe suitably carried by the'- cabinet.` In the form of my inventionillustrated herein the brackets 24 serve not only to support thereceptacle-but also to provide a support for a decorative grille 25. Inorder properly to' locate the. receptacle in a vertical direction, theupstanding end portion of the bracket 24 may be provided with a shoulder26 or other suitable therebyl minimize the amount of water vaporavailable for absorption'lcy the stored articles, there is provided asource of heat such as one or more electric lamps I6. i

I have illustrated my invention as being contained in the lower portionof a refrigerator cabinet Il. Conventional cabinets for domesticmechanical refrigerators have a food storage compartment I8 in the upperportion' thereof and a machinery compartment I9 in the lower portionthereof. mally disposed in the latter compartment is placed in the rearportion ol that space, there is provided at the front of the machinerycompartment a space which may be utilized for bulk sto-rage. I havedisposed the dehydrator compartment I0 in this space.

The walls and cover of the receptacle are preferably heat insulating inorder to maintain the If the refrigerating equipment nor' Other forms ofsupport may be provided, if desired.` For example, the receptacle |10may be disposed for sliding movement with respect to the l refrigeratorcabinet instead ofthe pivotal arrangement therein described.

With the above-described arrangement no locking means is providedinasmuchas thecenter of gravity of the receptacle whether empty or.filled is well to the rear of the pivot point at the portion 24. Thecover member I5 for the receptacle, in the illustrated form of myinvention comprises ,a sheet of insulating material 2l and a metal sheetmember 28 secured to the under side thereof as by rivets 29 or othersuitable fastening means.

As best seen in Fig. 2. the front wall of the receptacle is provided atthe top edge thereof with a rearwardly extending portion 30 and the wallmembers 20 and 2l are maintained in spaced-apart relationship by meansof suitable breaker strips 3I and 32 in order to minimize the conductonof heat between the metal liners or shells. In order to seal the spacebetween the end of the lateral portion 30 and the front of the By makingthe opening through which with an upwardly extending portion 33.

There is provided a source of heat for maintaining the interior of thereceptacle at a relatively high temperature as hereinbefore explained. Iprefer to employ a source of radiant heat as by using one or moreelectric lamps I6 although I may employ a resistor element clamped toone of the walls of the receptacle on either the inner or outer sidethereof, or any.

However, I have other suitable heating means. found that the use of asource of radiant heat causes a greater percentage of the total heat toreach the stored article. The reason for this is that there is lesschance of heat leakage through the container insulation by` conductionthan if for example, a resistor element is clamped to the inner liner2|.

I have found that if the inner portions or at v least substantialportions of the inner lining 2l are provided witha surface vhaving arelatively high coefficient of emission or reflection of radiant heator, in other words, having a relativelyk low coefficient of absorptionof radiant heat,

' transfer of heat to the stored food is still fur-r ther enhanced. Asurface embodying these characteristics may be provided, for example, byutilizing aluminum having a bright or polished surface exposed tothesource of heat. I have found that if such a material is used for theiny ner lining, a heat source of approximately 5 for connection to asuitable source of electrical power. I have illustrated the use of aswitch 39 so that the user of the device may control the source of heatas desired.

The source of heat may be supported in an desired Vfashion as :by meansof one or more clips 40 suitably secured, as to an inner wall of .thereceptacle.

I have found it desirable tomaintain the cover uI5 in engagement withthe rear wall H of the storage compartment throughout the pivotalmovement thereof. Therefore, I have pivotally supported thecover nearthe front edge thereof as by means of a pair of substantiallyv U-shapedhinge members 4| attached at the ends thereof in any suitable manner tothe cover and being held by suitable bracket members 42 secured to .therefrigerator cabinet in any suitable manner.

Other suitable hinge means may be substituted if desired.

Inspection of Fig. 2 will show that as the rel ceptacle is movedforwardly in a counter-clockwise direction about the pivot point, themarginal edge of the rear wall will move along an arc in acounter-clockwise direction causing the cove I5 to be lifted slightlyand then lowered but remaining in engagement with the top marginal edgeof the rear wall. In order to minimize friction there may be provided aroller M suitably carried from the receptacle as by means of a bracket45. j v

In order to facilitate movement of the receptacle from one position toanother, there may be opening, a machinery compartment below saidcabinet portion 32 I have provided the cover l5 provided a suitablehandle 46 supported by the receptacle in any convenient manner.

Modifications will occur to those skilled in the art. For example,instead of employing a manually operated switch 39, an automatic controlop erative according to the relative humidity of the air within thereceptacle may be employed, if desired.

While I have shown a particular embodiment of my invention, I do notdesire my invention to be limited to the particular construction shownand described and I intend in the appended claims to cover allmodifications within the spirit and scope of my invention.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the UnitedStates, is:

1. In a refrigerator cabinet of the type having a refrigerated foodstorage compartment, a machinery compartment below said storagecompartment and disposed toward the rear of said cabinet, and a movablefood storage receptacle located in the front portion of said cabinetbelow said storage compartment, said receptacle having thermallyinsulated walls, one of said walls having an opening therein, athermally insulated cover hinged on said cabinet for closing saidopening whereby the transmission of heat and moisture into and out ofsaid receptacle is minimized, said cover being arranged to remain infrictional engagement with said recep,

tacle throughout the movement of said receptacle, and means formaintaining a relatively low relative humidity within said receptacleand for dehydrating foods stored therein, said means comprising a sourceof radiant heat disposed in the upper portion of said receptacle in sucha manner that a minimum of storage space is occupled thereby,substantial portions of the inner sides of said walls being providedwith surfaces having a relatively high coeilcient of reflection ofradiant heat.

2. In a refrigerator cabinet of the type having.

a refrigerated food storage compartment, an access opening in the frontwall of said compartment and closure means for closing said accessstorage compartment and disposed toward the rear of said cabinet, and amovable food storage receptacle located in the front portion of saidcabinet below said storage compartment, said receptacle having thermallyinsulated walls, said receptacle being so disposed and dimensioned thatthe front wall thereof is substantially ush with the front surface ofsaid closure mea/ns for said access opening, the upper wall of said reIceptacle having an opening in the rearward por-` tion, and a thermallyinsulated closure lmeans for closing said opening whereby thetransmission of heat and moisture into and out of said receptacle isminimized, means for maintaining a relatively low relative humiditywithin said receptacle and for dehydrating foods stored therein, saidmeans comprising a source of radiant heat disposed adjacent the frontwall of said receptacle and immediately below the front portion of saidupper wall whereby a minimum of storage space is occupied thereby andsaid source of heat is substantially protected from being struck duringthe insertion or withdrawal of articles into or from said receptacle,substantial portions of the inner sides of said walls being providedwith surfaces having a relatively high coemcient of reection of radiantheat.

LA MAR S. COOPER.

